The Professor's Christmas Holiday
by Multi-authors challenge
Summary: In November 2009, a forum thread was started to find a group of Authors willing to write a piece FanFiction for Christmas. Every author involved will each write a chapter of the story, adding their own individuality and creativeness to complete the plot.
1. Chapter 1

**The Professor's Christmas Holiday**

McGonagall was sat in _her_ chair in the staffroom, with a glass of Brandy in one hand and the latest romance novel by Elena Renn in the other. She closed her eyes and listened. There it was, silence, peace. She renewed the charm on the fire and curled up on the chair.

She realized that with hostilities on the rise, she wouldn't really be able to relax like she had done during other Christmas breaks, but then, that was what the Brandy was for. But at least she wouldn't have to but up with any more childish arguments.

"Oh I'm _very_ sorry to inconvenience you, _Pomona_, however, I need the Watizome roots for my next potions masterpiece, and I don't have the time to waste shoving last minute Christmas shoppers out of the way while I visit the Apothecary!"

"Well, you should have thought about that before you started the potion!" Replied Sprout as she entered the staffroom with Snape dogging her heels. "You just assumed I would hand over parts of _my_ plants, does your arrogance know no bounds?"

"My arrogance pales in the face of your tightfisted-"

"Tightfisted?!" She screeched.

"Yes! _Tightfisted_! You've always been stingy with the ingredients. Giving me the smallest or the lowest quality out of-"

In her anger she cut him off, "You were lucky to get _anything_! And that was only because you were Hogwart's potions teacher!"

"Oh, so _that's_how it is. You've never liked me have you?" Accused Snape.

"It isn't about you!"

"But it is!" he insisted.

She let out an angry breath and tried to calm herself. "Do you think this school runs on Hopes and Dreams?! Albus cut the Hogwarts entrance fee in half when he became Headmaster. Since then, selling the rare plants _I _grow has been our main source of income."

I'm sorry Severus, I really am, but while you are the Defense professor, I have no reason to indulge you with your hobby."

"Hobby?!" He hissed. "Now listen here _Sprout_," her eyes narrowed, "the work I do and the potions I create are for the good of mankind, and if a dunderhead like you can't see that-"

"How dare you, you Miserable Bat!"

"Stingy Hag!"

"Severus! Pomona!" McGonagall boomed. "Get a hold of yourselves!" They stopped yelling at once and slowly turned to where McGonagall had slammed her Brandy glass down on the arm of her chair, where the fabric was stained. She frowned and looked down at the spillage. When she looked back up, both Sprout and Snape had wisely fled the staffroom.

After she spelled the chair dry McGonagall gave a put upon sigh. It was Christmas; she was supposed to be enjoying her well earned rest. Unfortunately, no one seemed to deem her worthy of ten minutes of quiet before another crisis showed its ugly head and demanded her attention.

Still, at least she had remembered to buy and make all of her Christmas gifts early this year. The memory of last minute shopping in Hogsmeade last year made her shiver slightly. Her gaze drifted towards the beautifully decorated Christmas tree standing in a corner of the room. Her eyes widened and she gasped in horror. All of the presents were gone!

"_Someone_ will answer for this!" She hissed through thinned lips.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

In an abandoned part of the castle a figure in the dark clapped its hands and rubbed them together. It stared greedily at the stolen goods. "Mwhahaha, Merry Christmas, _fools_."

**_A/N_ E037407 _here. As the first of a dozen Authors to write a part of this story I guess it's up to me to explain the rules of this challenge to the people who haven't been following the forum thread that started this. The story is taking place during the_ Half-Blood Prince_. It should be written in Third-Person and past tense._** **_While the students that stay at Hogwarts is up to the individual Author, the cannon storyline must not be disrupted. The word limit is 2,000, although _I've _only hit 600._**

**_I'm looking forward to what the next Author's write, you can probably count on the next chapters being longer than this._**

**_Eccentric11, it's your turn!_**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Professor's Christmas Holiday**

Professor McGonagall stormed out of her room at stare at the visibly empty corridor. She hesitated to cast a disillusionment charm but used the anyway, seeing that she couldn't afford anymore last minute Christmas shopping that was not even her fault. If she didn't cast that disillusionment charm, you can see that her face was very stern and she's not to mess with, especially at this moment.

McGonagall stroll her way throughout the castle, but she found nothing. Soon, her stern face dropped into a frown, a tear running down her cheeks. She thought to herself,

"_How many little hearts would I break if I don't give out those Christmas presents? How many joints would I hurt if I had to do one more of that hideous emergency Christmas shopping?" _ Minerva's face turned into disgust at the word hideous, emphasizing her hatred to do things she had done, again.

As Professor McGonagall assume that she had go around most of all the castle's hallways at least once, she decided to head back to her office and continue the search another time, since she is also tired and not in the mood to catch culprits, not when Christmas is coming.

Professor McGonagall turned around, as she passed her office around fifteen minutes ago, and bumped into someone.

'Ouch!' the other person said. The professor, in the other hand, didn't say a word and immediately held her wand in an offensive position; her opponent seemed to stand still. But of course, how can both of those 'duelers-to-be' be sure? Either side was not visible to the naked eye and either side was also sure that neither was supposed to be there.

Foolishly, Professor McGonagall's opponent poke their wand on her stomach, alarming her and causing her to fire, not loudly, but strongly; 'Levicorpus'.

"Aaa!" the opponent screamed, while he dangled upside down, causing a cloak to slip off and reveal their identities.

Minerva stared wide-eyed at her apparent opponent, vice versa. Although, the professor's opponent's stare was more like a 'what did I do?' stare.

"Liberacorpus" Professor McGonagall let her fellow night-wanderer down.

"What do you think you're doing wandering around the castle this late with Mr. Potter's cloak?" Minerva's eyes narrowed. "You better have a good reason and don't say you just need some fresh air. See, reckless behaviors like this are what give Professor Snape the privileges to give you detention. No wonder." She started to babble, more to herself at the end.

"But Professor, I just need some, umm, I need to get to the library to find some books for research, to do my homework." The sixth year student cleared his throat, looking quite brave as he was looking at the well-known stern professor right in the eye, rather than looking either at his covered shoes or the floor.

"I know what you like to do this late at night and I know it's not for books." Professor McGonagall whispered in a rush. The student opened his mouth for some objection but was closed again as the professor continued her speech, "don't try to reason with me, Ronald Weasley. I already have enough troubles when Christmas is near and I don't need your name to be added to the list of people ruining my Christmas. Now if you please, go back to your dorm and mention nothing of this meeting."

"Yes professor." Ron now looked at the floor. "But, if I may ask" Ron also stopped McGonagall's relieved look and turn it back serious, "what are go back to your dorm and mention nothing of this meeting."

"Yes professor." Ron now looked at the floor. "But, if I may ask" Ron also stopped McGonagall's relieved look and turn it back serious, "what are YOU doing this late at night?" Ron raised his eyebrows, feeling not so much of a loser as he did a few seconds ago.

"That… that is none of your business." Minerva stuttered, gazing at the floor to the right of Ron. "Now you better go to your dorms, as I shall also take a rest from this tiring night." Minerva tried to smile.

Ron shook his head and twisted a half-smile. At first, he was thinking to have a deal and trade secrets with the professor. But then, he feels that it's not right and he doesn't really want McGonagall to know what he's up to anyway.

"Well, good night then professor. See you at breakfast."

"Very well Mr. Weasley, and please warn your roommates that it's not that safe to run around the corridors this late. Times are changing back to how it was around 20 years ago. And don't try to sneak out of my words and continue your midnight stroll, I would know." The professor's face was concerned. Ron merely nodded and turned around, just as Professor McGonagall nodded approvingly and stayed on her spot for a few moments, before going the same way as Ron was, but to her office.

_"Too bad Professor is in the way, or I might catch Draco at work. Harry has been warning me, I thought I'd give it a shot; he'll let me use his cloak anyway. Well now I'm free of the so-called job I made myself had. What a stupid decision to do it alone. Should've told Harry my plan." _ Ron was thinking about his decisions.

McGonagall tilted her head slightly, noticing that Ron's mind was battling within. But she must go, as her office was right to the left of her.

"Good night Mr. Weasley." She said curtly.

"Night Professor." Ron said, waving his hand half-heartedly.

_ "Why is he walking the corridors at this time anyway? He was disrupting my Christmas heartbreaker search. But I'm heading to my office anyway. Better get a good night sleep rather than thinking hard at what I might ever guess anyway. I'll have to eat quickly if I want to catch them then. Oh can I use the summoning charm on those presents?" McGonagall's face was enlightened quite drastically after a few moments of babbling to herself. "Accio." _She said in her mentally. Nothing came zooming to the room even after a few seconds of waiting._ "I should've known. They must not be that stupid. What do they want from my presents anyway? Maybe they're just lonely. But they shouldn't make me sad on Christmas just because they're sad. That's not fair." _The Professor sat on her couch and rubbed her forehead.

McGonagall started remembering the old days, the Christmas when she's in her sixth year at Hogwarts in particular. She was in the library and a Slytherin approached her and gave her this necklace. She never thought he would even talk to her, but they spent the entire night in the library, talking endlessly, as if they never met and it was love at first sight, at least for her. The Slytherin walked her to the Fat Lady, bow, and then left. The next day his face was full of hatred when he looks at her. She never knew why. Young Minerva was so frustrated she really quit from having love interests in boys for the rest of the year. Now, Professor McGonagall can only shook her head.

Suddenly, McGonagall heard a knock on the window.

*Hoot* *Hoot*

Two owls was waiting outside, flapping their wings and gazing intently all around the room.

McGonagall really regretted that she didn't fell asleep earlier and just leave the memories for tomorrow. "What now?"

**A/N: (Eccentric11 writing…) Okay, I did this yesterday but it was really late so I posted it today. This is something to kind of build up to the climax I guess. It might take a big influence on the story, it might not; depends on the rest of the wonderful authors I'm working with. (btw, I'm really glad I'm doing this now, I'm going on a vacation next week and I don't want to delay this work for that ;p)**

**And now, I'll add****a part**** of ****E037407's author note, to re-explain the rules-just in case **** "The story is taking place during the****Half-Blood Prince****. It should be written in Third-Person and past tense.****While the students that stay at Hogwarts is up to the individual Author, the cannon storyline must not be disrupted. The word limit is 2,000."**

**I didn't quite hit the limit, but nevertheless, I hope this is enough. I'm very interested in seeing how this story goes. Thank you for reading **

**Stalker of Stories, it's your turn!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Professors' Christmas Holiday**

The owl on the left, a rather scrawny barn owl, stared. Minerva stared back. The owl on the right, a horned owl, was fidgeting like a first year that needed to use the loo (or was under Snape's hardened gaze; the difference was negligible).

"Well?" intoned the Transfigurations mistress. The horned owl quit fidgeting, looking rather cowed for an owl, and raised its leg.

Taking the letter – it was folded far too small to be reasonable – McGonagall looked at the barn owl which just continued staring at her. She sighed; not all owls could be as smart as Potter's, she supposed. Hedwig was a truly brilliant owl. Trust her luck to have things delivered by brain dead birds.

_Dear Professor McGonagall,_

_I have your presents._

_Have a nice Christmas!_

_The Grinch_

_PS: You didn't think I would actually put my name on here, did you?_

On the verge of twitching, McGonagall pulled out her wand and used a variety of tracking charms to find out the identity of this "Grinch" person, whatever that was supposed to mean. Predictably, not a single one worked. If he knew how to block a summoning charm, it stood to reason that he would obfuscate his magical signature and change his handwriting.

Christmas was fast approaching, and with it the deadline for giving out her gifts. What could she do? There was no way she would brave the last minute shopping crowds. And if she didn't give out gifts...

Unable to control herself, McGonagall shuddered. No, that was an eventuality to horrid to contemplate. Her colleagues could be quite creative in their punishments.

Again, she looked to the barn owl. What was it even doing there, anyway? It didn't seem to have a letter, and the horned owl had already taken off. It just kept staring at her, unblinking. Maybe it would react if she turned into a cat?

Suddenly, it took flight and knocked over the ink well that was sitting on the corner of the table onto the floor, spilling green ink over the floor.

McGonagall, feeling rather miffed, sent a quick and effective "_Evanesco_" at the mess.

How irksome.

There was nothing else for it. In the morning she would call together a meeting of all the Hogwarts Staff to find this "Grinch" person. If Albus had returned to the castle by then – this was unlikely given how much time he was spending out this year – then surely _he_ could solve the dilemma.

Determined, McGonagall laid down to sleep.

* * *

As it just so happened, going to bed while determined didn't work out so well. It took two hours for McGonagall to fall asleep as her head swam with plans, and she woke up with a crick in her neck and with her arm completely numb from sleeping funny.

Really, it was just her luck.

Standing in front of her chair in the Staff Room, Minerva surveyed the attending teachers. Half had ignored her that morning, too wrapped up in finishing their own Christmas shopping, and Dumbledore was still out of the castle, so her troops were greatly depleted. Snape was brewing something in his dungeon, or so he claimed; McGonagall figure he was just as likely taking a nap.

Horace Slughorn had taken up the call, but only because he wanted whatever gift McGonagall had purchased for him – some pineapple, because she couldn't think of anything else – as had Xiomara Hooch, likely for the same reason. Sinistra had decided to attend as well, though she was flagging after watching the planets all night.

Worst of all, Sybil opted to attend the meeting. That thrice damned Divination professor who, despite the early hour, was already deep in her cups.

Firenze, of course, was completely uninterested in human affairs.

"You are all aware of the reason as to why I have called you here," Minerva stated calmly. "My gifts have been stolen, and if we don't get them back, then you won't receive your present. Am I understood?"

No one was actually paying any attention; it was like her first day with the new first years every year.

This was going to take a while.

**A/n: Stalker of Stories here! I haven't written any Harry Potter fanfiction in a couple months, so this was a nice interlude for me. Hopefully a plot is building, or it just might fall flat. Who knows? Decided to get this out quickly, as I have my own Holiday prep (my Skip Beat advent calendar and some knitting).**

**Since the last two authors already stated the rules, I guess I should too? But, y'know, summarized. 2000 word limit on chapters, 3rd person past tense. See? Quick.**

**Feles Magica, you're up!**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Professors' Christmas Holiday**

Minerva's eyes were twitching with irritation as she was watching her colleagues. Sometimes she really wondered how grown up, educated people could act like a bunch of small, idiotic children. Well, better this than sugar high, Minerva decided and sighed heavily.

When five minutes had passed and neither the chatting nor the daydreaming of her colleagues had ceased, she decided that a more severe action was called for. Taking her wand in her hand, Minerva concentrated on the spell she was about to use and then waved the wand like a miniature sword.

A loud, booming sound erupted from the top of her wand, startling all of her colleagues greatly. With a sadistic grin, Minerva put her wand down and then placed in the bag of her robes. The room was silent, a frightened silence ensuing between them. Realizing she quite enjoyed the way things went, Minerva wanted to try how much she could frighten them.

With a sickly sweet smile on her lips and her normally cold and stern eyes blinking happily at them, the results were horrendous. If her colleagues hadn't been grown men and women, they would have run away screaming.

"Now that I have your undivided attention, I will come to the matter at hand. Something tragic has happened, a tragedy as it has never hit us before. I'm sorry to have to tell you, but it might be you won't get any from presents from me this year. They have been stolen. All of them."

The collective gasp and gazes of horror made her smile inwardly. Finally they realized the importance of this meeting. While they were all grown ups and rational thinking persons, her colleagues were like kids when Christmas or their presents were concerned. And as Minerva was known for her special and thoughtful presents, they wouldn't want to miss them for anything in the world.

"We have to get them back."

Her stern gaze was directed at the men and women sitting in front of her, staring at her with hide eyes and listening to her intently. If one hadn't known what they were talking about, they would have thought Minerva was the leader of a rebellion and their next strike was planned.

"To improve our functionality we will split into several teams. The Heads of Houses will search through their dorms. This way the parts of the castle the students spend most of their time in, will be controlled. Hagrid will search through the outlands for anything looking suspicious. The others will divide the remaining parts of the castle into areas and will search through them."

Nods of agreement met her stern gaze. The astronomy teacher would take the towers and the upper floor, Severus would search through the dungeons and Slytherin common room, Pomona would search through the Hufflepuff' common room and the green houses, Filius would have the Ravenclaw common room and the tower, the others would have to divide the rest between themselves and she would take the Gryffindor common room and the tower. Sybille, her eyes started to slightly twitch again, wouldn't participate in the search but would instead contact her inner eye for help.

What a good this would do.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Christmas won't wait for you to finish up your cups of tea and start the search. If you want to receive a Christmas present from me, you have to start the search _now_!"

As soon as she had finished she was left alone in the meeting room. Smiling contentedly at herself, Minerva left the room and made her way to the Gryffindor common room. She could start immediately with her search, as it wouldn't do to spend the time doing nothing. Frowning in disapproval as she remembered last night, she decided to have a little chat with Mister Weasley about his last night's adventurous tour through the deserted castle.

Feeling a sparkle of sadism, Minerva idly contemplated the thought of letting Mister Potter and Miss Granger join the talk.

* * *

Severus sighed in annoyance as he stood leaning over the cauldron, waiting for the potion to cool down. Unlike what many others thought and said, when Severus Snape said he had a potion to brew, he had a potion to brew. He was a Potions Master, for Merlin's sake, he wouldn't choke about something like that.

Normally he would have been able to enjoy the brewing, it calmed him down better than a can of camille tea could ever do. But this time, he couldn't. Angry thoughts flashed through his mind, preventing him from enjoying his task.

A group of young Slytherins had decided while waiting for their Professors' approval to go ice skating on the lake, it would be much more fun and more Slytherin to do this inside instead. So after they had done some research on the topic, someone had created a slim layer of water on the floor of one of the dungeon's corridor, while the others had cast a spell to make the temperature drop.

Until this step, everything went perfectly fine and Severus had to grudgingly respect that their idea was quite good and well thought through. Sadly. the group miscalculated the temperature and underestimated the difficulty of reaching the ice free area of the corridor, as the had all been standing at the dead end of it when they had cast the spells. There was no door on the left or the right side, the only escape being at the other ice free end.

So when they started to skate, they underestimated the slipperiness of the ice and immediately made a most unwelcome contact with the icy floor. Standing up turned out to be difficult, but not as difficult as skating on it. When they realized it wouldn't work the way they wanted it to, they tried to vanish the ice with heating spells. But as nearly twenty students had spoken the freezing spells, the temperature of the ice was too cold for any heating charm to warm. With a lot of dread the Slytherin group finally realized that their only way of escape would be squirming over the icy floor like flobberworms to reach the ice-free end.

When all of them had two hours later arrived at the other end, all of them were nearly freezing to death, the were bleeding at their hands, where the skin had come into contact with the ice and most of them had bruises at their knees and elbows. Needless to say, they would have wished to go directly to the Hospital Wing. But as they were Slytherins and there was nothing more important than their ego and their reputation, they had decided against it.

And had instead visited him.

That was why Severus had been forced to brew several batches of healing and warming draughts on a normally work free morning. And now, five hours later, he had finally brewed the last cauldron and would, after bottling it up and sending a house elf to bring it to the Slytherin common room, be able to enjoy his free day. He knew that Minerva wanted him to search through his Slytherins' common room for her missing presents, but frankly, he could care less.

Of course he wanted her to find them, especially as her present for him was missing, too. But after attending to the needs of his Slytherins for the last five hours, Severus decided the common room and the dungeons could wait a little.

With a flick of his wand, the draught emptied out of the cauldron and filled itself into the several open bottles waiting for it. Another flick and the cauldron was standing on the floor, waiting for the house elves or some unfortunate student to clean it up, while the bottles were closed. He called for a house elf and instructed the miserable creature to bring all these bottles to his Slytherins, to wait for them to finish them up and then to return the bottles to his study.

Deciding to go for a walk, Severus left his quarters and turned left. But he had not walked for two seconds, he was forced to stop again. There, on the floor in front of him, where small, glittery heaps on the floor every once and a while. The came from the upper floors and lead to the more darker and colder parts of the dungeon.

His interest spiked, Severus conjured a warm winter cloak and made his way to follow those heaps. His wand was leading him the way, the glitter reflecting brightly the light. The deeper he reached into the dungeons, the bigger the heaps of glitter got. Idly Severus asked himself in what he had gotten himself into following them. Perhaps he should have told someone where he was going or wait for someone to accompany him. Frowning at this strange and uncharacteristic thought, Severus brushed it away. He was a Death Eater for Merlin's sake, he had lived through much worse. His only goal at the moment was to find the culprit and to punish him accordingly.

Because there was no bigger mistake and sin than letting glitter lay around in the dungeons.

It was just _wrong_.

* * *

Somewhere in the loneliest and darkest place of the castle, the Grinch was sitting on his couch, staring into the brightly shining fireplace with glee, a cup of strong, black tea in his hands. Behind him, there was a small Christmas tree, decorated with golden, ever burning candles, red unbreakable globes and small wooded figures. Under it there was a nicely handmade, red carpet, filled with dozen and dozen of presents.

Looking at the pictures hanging at the white wall, the Grinch sighed. He enjoyed watching those pictures. The small, grey kittens playing or walking around made him relax immensely. He knew most visitors were scared by his kittens, but he liked them, he thought of them as cute. After all, most people thought his lovely cat to be ugly, too. Frowning angrily the Grinch remembered that not all people or wizards were able to notice real, breathtaking beauty.

Like every year Minerva's presents were the ones wrapped with the most thoughtfulness and consideration. Severus Snape's was wrapped in a shiny, silver-green paper, Filius Flitckwick's was wrapped in a dark blue one with a bronze loop, enchanted so it would create different figures every once and a while, Pomona Sprout's paper was of a floral paint and the Headmaster's had candy stuck to it. Like always she had known how to wrap each present, so it would delight the person send to.

And like every year she had forgotten him again.

It made him angry, furious if he would be honest with himself. He wasn't angry at the others for not thinking about him and giving him a present. Well, at the beginning he had been, but as they never associated with him anyways he wasn't too sad about they did. But with Minerva it was different. Besides the Headmaster, she was the only one to speak to him freely, the only one to ask how he felt because she was interested in it, the only one who cared for him. But like every other year, she wouldn't give him a present. It hurt him, hurt him quite deeply to see all others would receive one, but he wouldn't.

So he had decided it wouldn't do this year.

And that was why he had stolen her presents. If he didn't get one, nobody would. He would punish her for forgetting him all those years and would therefore keep the presents for himself. At Christmas he would open them, one by one and would pretend they were all for him, one present for each year without. Perhaps she would finally realize she had forgotten him each and every year. But even if she didn't, it wouldn't matter.

Because this year, he would finally receive a present from her.

Smiling benevolently at himself, the Grinch emptied his tea cup, placed it for the house elves to take away on his couch table, lit the fire and then threw a thick white blanket over the presents. It wouldn't do for anyone to enter his quarters and see the missing presents. This would scarcely happen, but one couldn't be careful enough. Having made sure nothing was to be seen, the Grinch started to hum contentedly and went to go to bed.

**

* * *

**

FelesMagica

**Woohoo. I did it. Didn't take me as long as I expected it to. I'm currently working on five other, long term stories, that is why. But, you see, I did it. So, ****Blonde Slytherin****, you're next. Good luck with it!**

**Just some little information: I called the one who stole the presents Grinch, like he or she had been in the chapter before. I know I spoke of him as a "he", but you could easily decide to make the Grinch a "she". I just thought it to be more fitting. **

**If someone has questions about the content of my chapter or what I meant with something, feel free to pm me. I will answer all questions. **

**I can't wait to read what is going to happen next and who you want the culprit to be. Ah, the excitement!**

**Thanks a lot, Stalker of Stories, for beta-reading my chapter! **


	5. Chapter 5

Severus Snape followed the increasingly large piles of glitter that was littering the dungeon corridors. And he was starting to wonder firstly if he should of told someone where he was going and secondly where on earth someone got this much shiny, golden glitter. Of course they could have conjured it but he couldn't imagine why someone would take the time to conjure all of this glitter. By now he was dark in the dungeons and, if he was correct and he usually was, nearing the end of the corridor he was in.

"Take that you evil glittery alien scum." Snape heard someone, male and teenaged if he was right, shout around the corner a few feet away. Snape whispered 'nox' and crept slowly around the corner. He couldn't believe the sight in front of him. Three teenage boys, seventh years, standing in huge piles of shiny, golden glitter and throwing it at each other. The worst part was that they were Slytherins.

"What is going on here?" Snape said very slowly as he looked at the three boys. They whipped around and stared in shock at their professor. "Do not make me ask again." Snape warned. "Prof-professor Snape." One of the boys, Leo Bellman, said still looking at Snape in shock. "Yes?" Snape drawled raising his eyebrows. "We- we were- umm- yeah." Another boy, Claude Slystone, said trying, and failing, to come up with a explanation.

"Mr. Slystone, Mr. Bellman, Mr. Roseheart, this is not what is considered proper Seventh year and Slytherin behavior. You will get rid of the glitter and leave this corridor as you found and we will not speak of this ever again." Snape said as he looked sternly at the three seventh years.

"Umm, Professor, this was how we found it." Mr. Slystone said while he shifted uncomfortably. "What do you mean?" Snape asked slowly. "We saw the glitter and followed it and we found this." Mr. Roseheart said. Snape almost growled but instead he just barked out "Clean it up." and stalked out of corridor and into the dark, damp, normal corridors. If the holiday continued like this he would need a very strong drink.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall decided this was not turning out to be a very good holiday. First her favorite niece decided to spend Christmas in France with her boyfriend and not with her family. Next her least favorite nephew got arrest by muggles for driving while drunk. And now all her presents were stolen and the thief was so bloody annoying. He had sent her another letter by another brain dead owl.

And all it said was '_I bet you're missing your gifts now. Next time you should think about them better. - The Grinch'_ What was that suppose to mean? Clearly the Grinch was crazy. And not Albus Dumbledore crazy but lock him up and throw away the key crazy.

Minerva was so lost in her thoughts that she ran right into Luna Lovegood and almost knocked her down.

"Miss Lovegood are you okay?" Minerva asked the blonde Ravenclaw. "Oh, yes. Are you okay, Professor?" Miss Lovegood replied looking at her with her large slightly creepy eyes. "Yes, I'm fine, Miss Lovegood. I apologize for running into you." Minerva said to the Ravenclaw. "You seem to be lost in thought. While it is often very enjoyable, it is quite dangerous to wander in your thoughts while wandering in the halls." Miss Lovegood said tilting her head to look at her professor. "I will keep that in mind, Miss Lovegood. Now if you don't mind I must be going." Minerva replied.

She couldn't help but be unnerved by Lovegood. The only ones she had never seen unnerved by Lovegood were Ginny Weasley, Albus, and Severus. Albus because he never seem unnerved and Severus because the only emotions she saw him show were annoyance, anger, and frustration.

"Oh of course, Professor." Lovegood said before she skipped off towards Ravenclaw tower. Minerva had to mentally shake herself before she walked briskly to Gryffindor tower to look for her stolen presents.

* * *

Pomona Sprout wished that her dreams of a perfect, happy Christmas at Hogwarts with freshly fallen snow on the ground and the children being nice and polite were reality. When she first took the teaching job she thought it would be all sunshine and daisies. Sadly that was not true. The children were rude and merciless, her coworkers often behaved worse than the children, and her boss rarely told anyone other than Minerva and Severus anything. Which was not fair considering she had worked with Albus a little bit longer than Minerva and much longer than Severus. But Pomona kept her complains to herself and tried to grin and bare it. That lasted until the end of the third month she worked at Hogwarts. But nevertheless she-

"Professor Sprout?" A boy's voice asked interrupting her thoughts. "Yes?" Pomona replied as she turned around to face George Wheeler, a third year Hufflepuff.

"You were about to run into a wall." Mr. Wheeler said simply. Pomona turned her head a little to look behind her.

"Oh. So I was." She said looking at the wall behind her. "Are you okay, Professor?" He asked looking her with concern. "Yes, yes. Just got caught up in my thoughts. Thank you, Mr. Wheeler." Pomona said to the little third year. "If you say so, Professor." Mr. Wheeler said before walking off. He waved at the professor as he rounded the corner and Pomona smiled at her student.

**A/N; BlondeSlytherin here. I hope this wasn't to bad. Writing Professors isn't really my best work. I suppose by now you've learned how this challenge works but I'll tell you again anyway. We each are going to write under 2,000 words about the Professors' holiday. I'm not very happy with this chapter about I couldn't think of anyway to make it better so I just decided to post it. I hope it was somewhat enjoyably for you to read and that I didn't make to hard for XxrandomxX to write the next chapter. Hear that, XxrandomxX? You're next up. I hope you'll check out more of my stories [self advertisement, got to love it]. Ta ta for now, folks. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The Grinch scowled to himself in the shadows by the staff room; lurking behind an old statue he waited, and waited.

Inside the room, the teachers were having another meeting, clustered round the neat tables and chairs, clutching mugs of hot chocolate or something stronger. He knew they were talking about him, pooling their resources and planning the next move, their agitated expressions growing steadily more annoyed.

It wasn't even a battle, but somehow, the Grinch knew he was going to win. He was so inconspicuous, so well trusted to be even a suspect.

They weren't going to get their Christmas presents back. Not if the Grinch had anything to say about it.

He couldn't believe they had forgotten him every year- that they hadn't even thought to involve him in the plans- everyone knew he was an expert on looking around the school!

They had hunted high and low, searched every corner of the grounds, from the Astronomy tower to the darkest reaches of the dungeons. They had interrogated every remaining person at the school, their thorough attempts at discovering the whereabouts of their lost gifts growing more and more dramatic.

And all they had to show for it was glitter.

The Grinch mentally kicked himself for it; he couldn't believe he had slipped up, not after he had planned what to do. It was thorough, perfect, full proof. And yet, they had a clue. But they seemed to lack the ability to piece the pieces together, like a jigsaw.

He laughed evilly to himself, but then stopped when he saw someone coming down the corridor. He shifted further into the shadows, his face peering out into the corridor through the hood of his cloak, silently watching.

Professor Trelawney wandered down the corridor, a stack of cards clasped in her hand, which she shuffled. She swayed slightly; the sound of clinking bottles came from her hanging shawls.

She took a card and muttered to herself, examining it. "Five of Cups; taking love and happiness from an ally for granted can lead to sadness, grief and regret. A warning of a change in choice- a new direction."

The Grinch stifled a snort as she tutted and muttered to herself some more, entering the staff room in a slow movement of clinking bracelets. When she opened the door, the Grinch could hear a loud argument brewing, from the shouts and undeniable wizards swears that someone seemed to be yelling. Again, he laughed.

A loud smash was heard, followed by a brief pause, which was followed immediately by more swearing.

The shouts and swears, while funny, were attracting an audience as people wondered what was forcing their teachers to act like children deprived from sugar. Or presents, really. The muttering got louder and louder, until the frustrated and bespectacled face of professor McGonagall appeared at the door and told them to be quiet, her no-nonsense face hard to trust covered in glitter like that.

The Grinch stifled a laugh. They were examining the glitter like crime scene investigators. Never had a group of adults gone so crazy over a pile of junky presents (albeit well-wrapped) in shiny paper.

The crowd began to slowly disperse and McGonagall shooed them away like unwanted animals, the yelling scarcely stopping behind her.

A little first year, a Hufflepuff by the name or Eric DeMott brushed past the statue behind which the Grinch was hiding. His small, bright, childish eyes looked into the shadows, and the Grinch knew he had been seen, by the child who probably still played hide and seek, and was an expert in uncovering people who _really _wanted to be left alone.

"Excuse me, sir," Eric said, his face not showing the usual terror the rest of his classmates showed at the sight of the grouchy old man. "But why are you hiding?"

"None of your business," the Grinch said harshly, wishing he could just _go away._

But Eric wasn't going to go. It hadn't snowed yet, and his friends were simply playing chess in the common room. Eric was bored. He had thought that Christmas in the castle would have been great, but it was a let down. And now, here was this man, acting very peculiar, something which entertained Eric in the cold day.

The Grinch did not care to being found out by a measly, tiny first year. He would not stand for it, so standing as high as he could in the small place, he tried to make himself domineering. The kid blinked, and did not go away as the Grinch waved him off, scowling. Professor McGonagall was not paying attention, as she was dealing with some fifth year who demanded help on an assignment, so sighing, the Grinch crept out of the hole and made his way down the corridor, leading Eric away.

"Why don't you go down to the kitchen, DeMott, and stop lurking in the corridor."

Eric sighed and turned away. _He would just have to find another way to keep himself entertained. _He would have continued to walk down the corridor and leave, but he stopped and with laughter in his eyes, he loudly said; "You do realise your back is covered in glitter, don't you?"

Then there was a pause. The Grinch scowled at the first year, chanting in his head; _Go away, Go away, Go away… _

And when he turned, with a sickening heart, he realised Professor McGonagall had heard every word Eric had said, and was looking straight at the Grinch.

"You!" He heard her gasp, as her eyes burnt through the cloak he wore, which scarcely covered his nose; trying to discover who he was. Her eyes got as dark as the flames in hell, the clear look of absolute detest and hatred.

Honestly? The Grinch felt quite scared.

McGonagall turned and swiftly poked her head back into the staff room. She shouted a few words, and then leapt back down the stairs to follow the Grinch, the crowd of teachers following her.

Shocked, the Grinch hadn't moved, but now he did. Picking up his cloak and brushing past the cheerful first year, he scampered down the corridor, skidding slightly on a patch of water. He heard the teachers let out a loud cry as they followed him; mugs of hot liquid being dropped on the floor as they eagerly chased the thief.

Eric stood quite still, stunned, as the teachers he had been taught to appreciate and respect (with expressions of sheer warlike determination) yelled "Get him!" and charged onto him, chasing someone who had stolen some boxes of chocolates and random trinkets.

If a sixth year had not pulled him out of the way just in time, Eric DeMott would have been quite crushed on the floor, and would never have got to see the chase that then ensued, as the (now panting) teachers followed the Grinch around the school.

They split up into groups, and having now acclaimed weapons of saucepans and candlesticks, made their way through the passages that made up the school. Normally, when a fight like this happened, it was a good-bad situation, and although the Grinch was supposedly bad, he wasn't trying to take over the world and make life bad for its inhabitants.

The Grinch tried to escape, he really did. He went everywhere, he tried chucking things at them and going through secret passageways, but nothing worked.

Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and an even tipsier Trelawney chased him up a staircase, down another one, round the towers and into the dungeon. Through tapestries and by classrooms they raced, passing suits of armour and decorations quickly. Eventually, all slightly exhausted, they were at the top of the Astronomy tower. They edged forwards, cornering the Grinch against the sides as he continued to try to escape. The other teachers had arrived, and were clustered behind them, watching.

Stepping forwards, Snape smiled maliciously. "Let's see who this present thief is…"

And he pulled back the hood of the cloak…

* * *

**Hello, thegirlofcrazy here, or ****MadKillerSheeperflyRabbitXD as it says on the profile. So you have probably heard the rules to death, and I can't be bothered to say them again. xD But anyway, lots of authors, less that 2,000 words, awesome. **

**Sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger, (not really xD) sorry if it is rubbish and sorry for the long wait. A lot of people dropped out and I found out that it was my turn a bit over a week ago. **

**Thanks to ****Stalker of Stories**** for beta-ing this chapter!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**And ****Penandpaper67 you are next!**


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